JUDY MILLER AND her husband, Joe Hughes, are having the New Hampshire vacation of a lifetime.

Since leaving their California home Friday for a five-day primary-palooza, Miller has hugged Barack Obama, seen the softer side of Mike Gravel, confirmed that Bill Richardson would be a fine President and Rudy Giuliani would not, urged Nancy Pelosi to stop caving in to President Bush, lost some respect for Hillary, pressed the flesh with John McCain, mugged for the camera with two of her favorite political pundits, Chuck Todd and Chris Matthews of MSNBC, received freebees from Dennis Kucinich and discussed actor Viggo Mortensen's role in "Eastern Promises" with Viggo Mortensen.

"Can you believe that?" said Miller, still star-struck just moments after stepping off the Kucinich campaign bus parked outside Manchester's Radisson Hotel last night.

Inside, Kucinich was preparing for his next event in Manchester with a small entourage that included Mortensen.

With a simple knock on the bus door, Hughes and Miller were welcomed aboard for a 10-minute audience with Kucinich.

They left with another item to cross off their primary tourist to-do list.

"All along I've been leaning toward Dennis," Hughes said after getting up-close and personal with his favorite Democrat. "After meeting him, I'm pretty sure I'm voting for him."

It's that kind of access to candidates that has incoming tourists reinforcing what the natives have always known: New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary is something special.

"Obama hugged me," Miller said. "His speech brought me to tears, he spoke so beautifully. That's why we came. This trip isn't about eating or sleeping. It's about squeezing as much into a few days as possible."

Hughes and Miller are political junkies who love their liberal West Coast lifestyle. But their history with New Hampshire made it a magnetic draw at a time like this - he attended grad school at the University of New Hampshire in the late 1960s then stayed on for seven years before moving west. Married 25 years, they have summered often at Lake Winnipesaukee.

Coming east for the pre-primary hoopla seemed reasonable, at least to them.

"Everybody thought we were a little odd for doing this," Miller said. "But we wanted to see the candidates behind the scenes so we could make up our minds based on what we thought, and not just from the spin."

Marking their social calendar for the excursion was as much a part of the adventure as anything, said Hughes.

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"I had to change my plane reservations three times. Originally I booked for January 28th, then January 22nd. Then I had to wait four months till you guys finally decided on a date for the primary," Huges said. "It's been a process."

But one they respect.

"No, we don't hold it against (New Hampshire Secretary of State) Bill Gardner. We understand it's an important process," Miller said.

In the spring the state's Department of Tourism announced plans to promote the primary as a tourist event. But those plans were scaled back dramatically after Gardner voiced his objections to the proposed marketing campaign.

His stance hasn't stopped tourists from streaming into the state for months, strategically coordinating trips to coincide with the heavy rotation of appearances by the candidates.

Nothing rivals the frenzy felt here over the past few days, though - hotels are booked solid and media outlets from around the globe have dispatched reporters to scour the state for around-the-clock election news.

California primary tourists Joe Hughes and Judy Miller receive a signed copy of Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich's U.S. Constitution handout from the candidate on his campaign bus at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester last night. Hollywood actor Viggo Mortenson, Kucinich supporter, provides the pen. (BRUCE TAYLOR)

Although the trip for Miller, 65, and Hughes, 66, got off to a stormy start - power was out at their Mill Valley, Calif., home and their flight was delayed by six hours due to the heavy rains - they finally landed in Manchester early Saturday after spending the night at Washington's Dulles International Airport.

The travel glitch meant they missed most of the events on their tour itinerary Saturday. But they had a good time playing catch up.

"Let's see - we were in Goffstown last night before the debates, then we went to Manchester to see McCain afterward, then today we were in Nashua to see Hillary and then back to Manchester to see Gravel, then to Derry to see Obama," Miller said.

"Don't forget Duncan Hunter. We saw him, too," Hughes interjected.

"Right. Then tomorrow we're going to Laconia to see John Edwards," Miller said. "Actually, we're mostly going to see frozen Lake Winnipesaukee. After all those summers we spent here, I still can't believe that it freezes in the winter. That will be something to see."